Frogs Swallow Using Eyeballs: Exhibit Reveals Creatures' Quirks

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NEW YORK — Neon green, vivid orange, striped and spotted — the
frogs are back! An exhibit featuring live frogs from around the
world is returning to the American Museum of Natural History here
in New York.

The exhibition, entitled "Frogs: A Chorus of Colors," features
more than 150 live frogs from approximately 25 species, from the
brilliantly colored
poison dart frog to the giant African bullfrog. The exhibit
opens Saturday (May 18) and runs through Jan. 5, 2014.

" Frogs are
so weird that although we might think we know frogs really well,
there's just so much about their biology and what they do which
is a chance in the exhibition to really surprise people," exhibit
curator Christopher J. Raxworthy, a curator in the museum's
department of herpetology and faculty member in its Richard
Gilder graduate school, told LiveScience at a press preview of
the exhibit.

The display introduces visitors to the biology and evolution of
these wacky and wonderful amphibians, as well as their importance
to ecosystems and the dangers they face. The colorful creatures,
which were bred in captivity, peer through glass cases containing
recreations of their natural habitats. [ Image
Gallery: Cute and Colorful Frogs ]

Highlights include the pale-blue Mexican dumpy frog from the
semiarid subtropical lowland forests in Mexico and the
appropriately named tomato frog from the lowlands of Madagascar.

The frogs possess a certain mystique for visitors. People are
drawn to the amphibians' bright colors and strange physiques. "I
think that, aesthetically, it really gives people a high,"
Raxworthy said. In addition, there are the quirky things frogs
do.

For example, many frogs swallow using their eyeballs. "Once they
have prey in their mouth, to help force it down their throat,
they actually pull their eyeballs down," Raxworthy said. And
here’s another wacky tidbit: African clawed
frogs were once used for pregnancy tests.

The exhibit's centerpiece is a large poison-dart-frog vivarium
containing more than 80 frogs, including bumblebee poison frogs,
Bastimentos strawberry poison frogs and green-leg poison frogs.
In the wild, poison dart frogs concentrate the toxins found in
ants and other insects they eat into a powerful poison that the
Emberá, the indigenous people of northwestern Columbia, rub onto
darts for weapons.

Active research in the museum's department of herpetology is also
featured in the exhibit. Biologists are still discovering new
frog species. More than 6,000 species have been described so far,
and that number is increasing rapidly, Raxworthy said.

Nonetheless, frog populations are dwindling around the world, and
the exhibit features a short video about some of the threats
frogs face. Nearly one-third of amphibians — 88 percent of which
are frogs — are threatened, and at least 34 species of frogs (and
possibly many more) are extinct. Habitat loss is a major cause,
but a mysterious disease caused by the
chytrid fungus is also to blame.

"There's lots we don't fully understand, but it’s very sad to see
a big chunk of amphibian diversity now also suffering because of
this disease," Raxworthy said.

The purpose of the exhibit is to educate people about these
fascinating creatures, Raxworthy said. For visitors, he said,
"This is a great chance to find out interesting facts about frogs
you probably have no idea about. The more you dig, the more weird
and wonderful it gets."